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CNN: WildAid's Peter Knights Discusses Death of Cecil the Lion

By WildAid

The recent death of a beloved lion in Zimbabwe has sparked international outrage, with news that a US hunter killed "Cecil" after guides allegedly lured the animal outside Hwange National Park. Multiple outlets have reported that a Minnesota man paid over $54,000 for the hunt.

Cecil, well known to those who visited the Hwange National Park in western Zimbabwe for his jet black mane, was beheaded, according to conservation officials. His corpse was left to rot in the sun.

Zimbabwean officials said that Dr. Walter J. Palmer, an American hunter known for killing big game with a bow and arrow, killed Cecil, and is being sought on poaching charges. [...]

The first shot, which the authorities say came from Dr. Palmer’s crossbow, was not enough to kill the lion. Cecil was tracked for nearly two days before one of the members of the hunting party killed him with a gun.

“We’ve seen a whole series of ethical problems in the hunting industry over the last few years. In South Africa, there was a big case where hunting was being used to basically commercially kill rhinos. And then there’s been the whole outrage about canned lion hunts in South Africa recently. The industry really needs to clean up its act, and it needs to be the first to condemn actions such as these.”